advocating or supportive of the interests, civil rights, and welfare of homosexuals; gay
a homophile activist organization
Word origin
[1955–60; homo- + -phile, on the model of homosexual]This word is first recorded in the period 1955–60. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: backgrounder, cassette, geodesic dome, life-support, rite of passagehomo- is a combining form appearing in loanwords from Greek, where it meant “same” (homology). On this model, homo- is used in the formation of compound words (homomorphic). Other words that use the affix homo- include: homocyclic, homodyne, homogamous, homotaxis, homozygous